1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a continuous-filling packaging system in which containers (e.g., bags) are continuously conveyed at a high speed, and various packaging operations such as filling with contents and sealing of the opening of the containers, etc. are performed on the containers while the containers are being conveyed; and more particularly to a continuous-filling packaging system that includes a continuous container supply device which converts the movement of empty containers supplied intermittently in a plurality of rows into a continuous movement in a single row.
2. Prior Art
Conventional retainer type filling packaging systems, in which bags are accommodated in retainers, and packaging operations are performed on the bags inside the retainers while the retainers are being conveyed, are described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. H58-73501 and H58-8280.
These systems are designed in the following manner:
A plurality of retainers which have been conveyed by a single-row conveyor are temporarily stopped and arranged, and a group of retainers which takes these plurality of containers as a unit is intermittently caused to advance, so that this group of retainers is fed onto an intermittently driven multi-row conveyor. Empty bags are simultaneously inserted into this group of retainers on the multi-row conveyor; then, after the mouths of the respective bags have been opened, the retainers of the above-described group are simultaneously pushed out from the multi-row conveyor onto a single-row conveyor. The retainers that have been thus pushed out onto this single-row conveyor are continuously conveyed and are continuously subjected to various packaging operations by a rotary type filling device, sealing device and cooling sealing device. The retainers are then again pushed onto an intermittently driven multi-row conveyor from the single-row conveyor as a group of retainers in which the above-described multiple number of containers are taken as a unit. The retainers are subjected to a cooling operation on this multi-layer conveyor. Furthermore, the discharge operation which extracts the full bags (filled bags) from the retainers is performed in the vicinity of the terminal end of the multi-layer conveyor, and the empty retainer group is pushed back out onto the single-row conveyor.
In such a retainer type filling packaging system, the efficiency of bag supply and discharge is increased by simultaneously inserting empty bags into a plurality of retainers or simultaneously extracting full bags from a plurality of retainers, so that continuity of processing with other devices that can be continuously operated at a high speed (filling devices, sealing devices, etc.) is maintained, thus improving productivity.
However, there are limits to the possible speed increase of the above-described intermittent operation itself, in which continuously conveyed retainers are temporarily stopped, and are then pushed by a pusher after a plurality of retainers have been gathered together. Accordingly, if an even greater improvement in bag supply and discharge efficiency is to be made, the number of containers handled as a group must be increased. If the number of retainers handled as a group is increased and the multi-row conveyor is widened, other problems occur. Installation of the insertion means used to insert bags into the retainers on the multi-row conveyor and the extraction means used to extract bags from the retainers becomes difficult. In particular, the replenishment of bags and maintenance in the portion of the insertion means positioned near the center of the multi-layer conveyor become difficult.
Furthermore, when the intermittent operation in which continuously conveyed retainers are temporarily stopped and a plurality of retainers are pushed out together by a pusher is performed, a large noise is constantly generated as a result of the retainers colliding with each other or with the pusher. This noise increases as the speed of the intermittent operation is increased.
In the retainer type filling packaging system, a much higher operating speed is possible for the rotary type filling device and sealing device. However, the intermittent operation in the supply of bags to the retainers and the discharge of the bags from the retainers forms a bottleneck, so that the improvement in the production efficiency of the retainer type filling packaging system as a whole is limited as described above. Though it is not impossible to perform the discharge of the bags from the retainers in a continuous manner on a single-row conveyor, if a high-speed operation is performed, a large quantity of bags exceeding the processing capacity per row will be conveyed in one row on the discharge conveyor. As a result, problems occur in subsequent processes such as packing the bags into boxes, etc.
In another type of filling packaging system that can be continuously operated at a high speed, such as the spout-equipped bag filling packaging system, a continuous packaging processing at a high speed by means of rotary type devices can be performed for the insertion of the spouts into the bags, the sealing of the mouths of the bags, the filling of the bags with a liquid following the attachment of the spouts, and the capping of the bags, etc. However, problems that are more or less similar to those seen in a retainer type filling packaging system occur. The intermittent operation involved in the supply of the bags similarly forms a bottleneck, and the improvement in the production efficiency of the spout-equipped bag filling packaging system as a whole is limited.
The present invention is made in light of the above-described conventional problems.
One object of the present invention is to provide a continuous container supply device which continuously supplies empty containers to a continuous-filling packaging system for containers by converting the movement of empty containers supplied intermittently in a plurality of rows into a continuous movement in a single row, thus improving the production efficiency of the filling packaging system as a whole by making a high-speed operation possible.
Another object of the present invention is to improve the production efficiency of the filling packaging system as a whole by conversely utilizing the mechanism of the continuous container supply device for the discharge of full containers (filled containers) and to insure that the number of containers conveyed per row does not exceed the processing capacity of subsequent processes by discharging the containers in a plurality of rows.
The present invention is for a continuous container supply device which is used in a continuous-filling packaging system and converts the movement of empty containers supplied intermittently in a plurality of rows into a continuous movement in a single row in a continuous-filling packaging system.
More specifically, the continuous container supply device is equipped with a container holding member conveying device and a container supply device. In the container holding member conveying device, numerous container holding members disposed at equal intervals are moved in one direction along a ring-form track (or a race-track shape path) that has a pair of parallel sections; and during this movement, the container holding members are moved intermittently a certain distance (which is a distance equal to an integral multiple of an attachment spacing of the container holding members) on a first side of the parallel sections, and they are also moved continuously at a constant speed on a second side of the parallel sections. In the container supply device, empty containers are simultaneously supplied to a plurality of container holding members so that one empty container is supplied to each container holding member on the first side of the parallel sections. Furthermore, empty containers are supplied in a plurality of rows to container holding members stopped by the container supply device on the first side of the parallel sections, and the empty containers are successively extracted and supplied from continuously moving container holding members on the second side of the parallel sections.
The above-described container holding member conveying device is equipped, for instance, with a rotational conveying mechanism, which rotationally conveys numerous container holding members disposed at equal intervals along a ring-form track that has a pair of parallel sections, and a reciprocating driving mechanism, which causes the reciprocating movement of the rotational conveying mechanism as a whole through a prescribed distance along the parallel sections. The rotational conveying mechanism and reciprocating driving mechanism are respectively equipped with independent driving sources. In this case, the container holding members have a movement speed resulting from the synthesis of the rotational conveying and the reciprocating movement.
In cases where the continuous filling packaging system is, for example, a retainer type system, a retainer conveying device is provided which conveys a plurality of retainers at the same intervals as those of the container holding members and at the same speed as the movement speed of the container holding members along the second side of the parallel sections. With this retainer conveying device, empty containers extracted from the continuously moving container holding members are inserted one at a time into the containers which are continuously conveyed. In this case, an insertion device can be also installed, so that the insertion device extracts the containers held in the container holding members and inserts these containers one at a time into the retainers.
Furthermore, a rotary type transfer device which has numerous transfer means disposed at equal intervals can also be installed on the second side of the parallel sections so as to be a part of the continuous container supply device. This rotary type transfer device continuously receives empty containers from the container holding members through the continuously rotating transfer means and then continuously supplies these containers to the rotor of the device used in the next process. In this case, in other words, the container holding member conveying device continuously supplies empty containers via the rotary type transfer device. Needless to say, the attachment intervals and moving speed of the transfer means coincide with those of the container holding members.
When this rotary type transfer device is applied to a retainer type continuous-filling packaging system, a device of the next process is, for example, a rotary type insertion device which inserts empty containers into the retainers. This rotary type insertion device is arranged, for instance, in such a manner that numerous retainers and empty containers are held on the outer circumference of the rotor of the rotary type insertion device at the same spacing as the spacing of the transfer means and are rotationally conveyed at the same speed as the moving speed of the transfer means. Thus, retainers are continuously received during each rotation of the device, empty containers supplied from the rotary type transfer device are inserted into the retainers, and the retainers are then discharged.
When the rotary type transfer device is applied to the continuous-filling packaging system for spout-equipped containers, a device of the next process is, for example, a rotary type spout insertion device which insert spouts into the containers and seals the mouths of the containers. This rotary type spout insertion device is arranged, for example, in such a manner that numerous spouts and empty containers are held on the outer circumference of the rotor of said device at the same spacing as the spacing of the transfer means and are rotationally conveyed at the same speed as the moving speed of the transfer means. Thus, the spouts are continuously received during each rotation of the device, the spouts are inserted into empty containers supplied from the rotary type transfer device, the mouths of the containers are sealed, and the spout-equipped containers are then discharged.
Furthermore, in the continuous-filling packaging system of the present invention, the continuous container supply device can be disposed on the empty container supply side, and an intermittent container discharge device which is used to convert the movement of full containers supplied continuously in a single row into an intermittent movement in a plurality of rows and discharge these full containers from the filling packaging system can be disposed on the full container discharge side.
The intermittent container discharge device is equipped with a container holding member conveying device. In this container holding member conveying device, numerous container holding members disposed at equal intervals are moved in one direction along a ring-form track that has a pair of parallel sections, and during this movement, the container holding members are moved continuously at a constant speed on the first side of the parallel sections and are moved intermittently a certain distance (which is a distance equal to an integral multiple of attachment spacing of the container holding members) on the second side of the parallel sections. The intermittent container discharge device continuously receives full containers by the continuously moving container holding members on the first side of the parallel sections and discharges full containers in a plurality of rows from stopped container holding members on the second side of the parallel sections.
It is also possible to install a loop type transfer device (described later) or rotary type transfer device on the first side of the parallel sections, so that full containers are continuously received by such a device and intermittently discharged in a plurality of rows.